Hi everyone; thanks in advance for your help.
I have a five year old iBook G4 with Mac OS X that's probably nearing the end of its life, but I want to keep using it as long as possible.
Unfortunately, my wireless has stopped working consistently-- I usually get signal for about 10 minutes and then get the "out of range" error message. I know this is an issue with my machine, not the signal, since another computer in my house picks up the wireless signal just fine and since the same thing has happened with my poor little G4 in multiple locations. I can connect via ethernet cord to my router and use the internet without problems.
I'm not sure if this is an issue with my airport card or something else within my hardware, since the airport card does work sporadically.
I'm thinking about replacing the card with either a used airport card (like this one) or with a USB adapter (like this one). Since my computer probably isn't going to last more than a handful of years, I'm looking for the most cost-effective solution.
Anyone had similar problems? Have a preference for a used airport card vs. USB adapter? I'm a relatively low-tech 20-something, just looking for reasonably speedy internet access without cords... so, advice in layman's terms is deeply, deeply appreciated.
Thanks again.
I have a five year old iBook G4 with Mac OS X that's probably nearing the end of its life, but I want to keep using it as long as possible.
Unfortunately, my wireless has stopped working consistently-- I usually get signal for about 10 minutes and then get the "out of range" error message. I know this is an issue with my machine, not the signal, since another computer in my house picks up the wireless signal just fine and since the same thing has happened with my poor little G4 in multiple locations. I can connect via ethernet cord to my router and use the internet without problems.
I'm not sure if this is an issue with my airport card or something else within my hardware, since the airport card does work sporadically.
I'm thinking about replacing the card with either a used airport card (like this one) or with a USB adapter (like this one). Since my computer probably isn't going to last more than a handful of years, I'm looking for the most cost-effective solution.
Anyone had similar problems? Have a preference for a used airport card vs. USB adapter? I'm a relatively low-tech 20-something, just looking for reasonably speedy internet access without cords... so, advice in layman's terms is deeply, deeply appreciated.
Thanks again.